Colossalcon East 2022 Event Report And Gallery Part 2: Problems Arise

In my first article on Colossalcon East 2022, I mainly wrote about the events and activities happening in the convention center area during the convention; things that purchasing a badge to the convention would get an attendee access to. In this article, I will focus on the happenings at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center’s water park, which for the most part is not “officially” part of the convention.

Billed on Kalahari’s website as “220,000 square feet, filled with wet, wild, fun,” the water park is one of the biggest draws for Colossalcon East, as cosplay photography and videography in the area is always an extremely popular activity for many attendees. Admission to the water park is included for all guests staying at Kalahari’s resort. Daily passes are also available, which range in price from around $70 – $100 per day during the convention dates. PRO TIP: The Kalahari also offers a monthly subscription rate ($130 at the time I subscribed), which is the most economical option for those attendees that are not staying at the Kalahari, but still wish to have access to the water park every day during the convention.

There is also an after party/night swim event held on the first two nights of the convention, which is only for Colossalcon East attendees. Pricing for this event was $40 for one night and $70 for both nights. This is up from $35/$60 last year, and $30/$50 in 2019. As this is only for convention attendees, I would say that this would probably be considered an “official” part of Colossalcon East.

Unfortunately, there were a number of problems that some attendees encountered at the water park this year. Before I get into some of the specifics, I have a bit of a preamble I’d like to get out of the way.

The rest of this article will have a bit of an editorial flair, where I’ll share some opinions, along with a bit of speculation. While we here at Nerd Caliber generally avoid speculation, it can be unavoidable when you have questions and concerns, but no answers. As of the time of this writing, Colossalcon East management has not made any statement regarding any issues with Kalahari staff, nor have they replied to my email asking for a response to those matters.

I also want to point out that convention staff was friendly and helpful from all of the accounts that I have read. Most if not all of the problems that I am aware of involve Kahalari’s venue staff. 

No flash photos
The issue that affected me the most personally was Kalahari water park staff’s sudden decision on early Saturday to prohibit flash photography in the area. I have attended Colossalcon East since its inception in 2017, and this is the first time this has been an issue. We were told this rule was put in place because “there may be children with epilepsy in the area.” I mentioned this on my personal Facebook page, and several people that actually have epilepsy replied, one of which has a formal education on the topic and could probably be considered an expert on the matter. They all agreed that this rule was ridiculous, as the odds that a single flash from a camera would trigger a seizure was infinitesimally small. And if someone was that sensitive, they would likely not even have been able to make it to the water park, as you have to pass through the resort’s arcade to get there, which of course has flashing lights all over the place.

While I will not make light of a condition like epilepsy, it’s clear to me that this was extremely weak reasoning for this sudden policy change. I feel that children were mentioned in particular to sort of tug on the heart strings, with the thought that anyone who would question it must be a monster of some sort. Well, I challenge it, and I reject it. I certainly hope this was a one-time thing, and that Colossalcon East management will fight to ensure that flash photography is allowed in the water park in the future.

There were also numerous instances of issues regarding attire at the water park throughout the weekend. Quite a few attendees mentioned that they were asked to cover up or leave the water park because their swimsuits were considered too revealing for the venue. While the Kalahari has the right to maintain their venue as being “family friendly,” that phrase is certainly open to interpretation. I, as well as others, have searched Kalahari’s website for any sort of dress code, and as far as I know, no one has found one. This led to the non-existent policy being enforced arbitrarily, which needless to say caused some hard feelings among attendees that were called out on it. I would have to consider this a form of “slut-shaming” which can be very upsetting to those that are the victim of it.

The creation of new policies during the convention, as well as arbitrary enforcement of policies that may or may not exist, are completely unprofessional and unacceptable practices. Some of Kalahari’s water park staff seemed particularly hostile this year, which made some attendees feel as if they were being purposely targeted and made to feel uncomfortable and unwanted.

There are other issues I could mention, but as I am once again up against (probably over) my word limit for my article, I’ll end with a quick summary. Kalahari staff and Colossalcon management seemed not to be on the same page when it came to policies at the water park, both during normal hours and at the night swim event. Whether these problems are a result of a lack of communication between Colossalcon East management and Kalahari staff, or a result of some Kalahari staff “going rogue” and making changes to policies on the fly, I cannot say. It’s likely a combination of both. Ultimately, Colossalcon management does have some amount of culpability for these issues. I hope that all of these problems are addressed and rectified well prior to next year’s event.

Among the cosplayers in the gallery linked below are Majestic Misato Cosplay, fabulizcosplay, darthbadercosplay, snapplesora, katja_nya, Warpstar Cosplay, mickysometimes, wryecos, theroseyspirit, postachild323, caroline_suzuka, kairichristiancosplay, zitchy14, Myratheon Cosplay, candyxneko, arisaurus.cos, 2d_dey, and many more

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